Marina Malfatti

Post by **Emiliano** » 23/04/2019, 14:48

Marina Malfatti in her most famous role as the marquis Marina del Malombra in the TV Mini-series Malombra (1974)

Marina Malfatti was born on 25 April 1933 in Florence. Never a surname was less apt ("Mal fatti" in italian means "badly done"): blonde, tall, of classic beauty and a little austere, long and beautiful legs, with an aristocratic bearing and a Nordic charm, even for the severe and somewhat cold look.

She cultivates a passion for acting from a young age, and when seventeen she's attending the acting school of René Simon at the Cours d 'Art Dramatique in Paris. Later she graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome (in the 1958).

To discover her as a prose actress is Arnoldo Foà, but if the theater will be her true passion, it is thanks to the cinema and above all to the TV, that she will become one of the most famous faces of the Italian show.

The silver screen discovered her in 1959 with Le cameriere of Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia. She gets the first important parts in the film Un uomo da bruciare (1962) by Valentino Orsini, I fuorilegge del matrimonio (1963) by the Taviani brothers and in the film by Giuliano Montaldo Una bella grinta (1965).

She made her debut on the small screen in the 1966 with the RAI series Le inchieste del commissario Maigret, with Gino Cervi, in the episode "The Chinese Shadow", followed by the successful series Sherlock Holmes, the TV movie Dal tuo al mio (1969) by Mario Landi, taken from a text by Verga, for which she was awarded the "Premio Verga", but above all she obtained a resounding success in the role of the marquis Marina del Malombra, in Malombra (1974), a drama from the novel of Fogazzaro.

She starred in her first thriller, In fondo alla piscina (1971), with Carrol Baker and directed by the Spanish director Eugenio Martin: one of those lucky Italian-Spanish co-productions that made the fortune of European cinema. In the early seventies she will be much sought in genre cinema and the reason is easy to say: with her skill she elevates the quality of the film, while with beauty she entertains a wider audience. She attended specially the vein of giallo/thrillers (La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba - 1971, La dama rossa uccide sette volte - 1972 by E. P. Miraglia, Tutti i colori del buio - 1972 by Sergio Martino, Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso - 1972 by Umberto Lenzi, Il prato macchiato di rosso - 1973 by Riccardo Ghione, Un fiocco nero per Deborah - 1974 by Marcello Andrei), becoming a true icon of this particular genre of Italian cinema.

From the mid-seventies she progressively distanced herself from the silver screen, turning her art to the theater, reserving some sporadic returns to the TV. On the stage she interprets many classics, but not only (Moravia writes for her "La cintura"), and becomes a diva of the Italian theaters, like Anna Proclemer and Valeria Morriconi, but surpassing them in beauty, and in 1983 her interpretation in "Elettra" earned her the "Maschera d’Argento" award.

In the nineties she joins in an artistic association with Luigi Squarzina, with whom he puts on the works of Pirandello, Goldoni, Cocteau and Shaw, to enhance her, especially in dramatic roles.

In the 2000s she brought to the stage several works including "Sorelle Materassi" (2006), "Gallina vecchia" by Maccarinelli (2007) and finally her latest performance: "Va dove ti porta il cuore" (2008).

Long withdrawn from the scene and from public life, especially since she was widowed by the ambassador Umberto La Rocca, from whom she had no children, she left silently at the age of 83, on 8 June 2016 in Rome.

FILMOGRAPHY

1967

C'era una volta .... Olimpia Capecelatro, princess of Altamura
Pronto... c'è una certa Giuliana per te .... Annalisa

1971
La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba .... Gladys Cunningham

1972
Il ritorno di Clint il solitario .... Norma Murrayson
La dama rossa uccide sette volte .... Franziska Wildenbrück
Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso .... Kathy Adams
Tutti i colori del buio .... Mary alias Celia Morgan

1973
Il prato macchiato di rosso .... Nina Genovese

1974
Malombra (TV Mini-Series) .... Marquis Marina del Malombra
Un fiocco nero per Deborah .... Deborah Lagrange

Films sometimes attributed by mistake

Black Killer (1971) (as Marina Mulligan)
Una pistola per cento croci! (1971) (as Marina Mulligan)

Marina Mulligan is the pseudonym of Marina Rabissi, ex wife of Carlo Croccolo (director of Black Killer), not of Marina Malfatti, that in fact doesn't appear in this movies at all.

FILMOGRAPHY TO CHECK

Le cameriere (1959) .... Venerina
Una ragazza per l'estate (1960) .... L'étrangère
Un uomo da bruciare (1962) .... Wilma
I fuorilegge del matrimonio (1963) .... Rosanna
Una bella grinta (1965) .... Luciana's friend
Io, io, io.... e gli altri (1966) .... Model
Le inchieste del commissario Maigret (TV Series) - Ep. "L'ombra cinese" (1966) .... Nina Moinard
Missione Wiesenthal (TV Movie, 1967) .... Anne Marie Mistelbach
Sherlock Holmes (TV Mini-Series, 1968) - Ep. "L'ultimo dei Baskerville" - 1st, 2nd, 3rd parts .... Beryl Stapleton
Più tardi Claire, più tardi... (1968)
Amori senza amore (TV series, 1968) - Ep. "Amori senza amore" .... Cristina Viola
Dal tuo al mio (TV Movie, 1969) .... Lisa
I dannati della Terra (1969) .... Luciana
Die Welt des Pirandello - Liebe! - Liebe? (TV Movie, 1970) - (segment "Wenn man das Spiel kennt" .... Christina Viola
Doppio gioco (TV Movie, 1971) .... Francoise
In fondo alla piscina (1971) .... Julie Spencer
Per amore o per forza (1971) .... Nora
Era Sam Wallash!... Lo chiamavano... E così sia (1971) .... Marge (uncredited)
Decameron n° 3 - Le più belle donne del Boccaccio (1972) - segment "The Jealous Husband" .... Wife of Jealous Husband
Testa in giù, gambe in aria (1972)
Alexander Zwo (TV Series, 1972-1973) - Ep. "Ping Pong", "Zum Abschuß freigegeben", "Gefährliche Heimkehr" .... Sonja
Il clan del quartiere latino (1973) .... Isabelle Maury
Il figlio di Zorro (1973) .... Carmen (uncredited)
La notte dell'ultimo giorno (1973) .... Francesca
Il venditore di palloncini (1974) .... Maria
Lezioni di violoncello con toccata e fuga (1976) .... Stella Brega
L'ultimo aereo per Venezia (TV Mini-Series, 1977) - Ep. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 .... Irene Oro
Il fauno di marmo (TV Mini-Series, 1977) .... Miriam
Il prigioniero (TV Movie, 1978) .... Nadia Zamboni
Racconti di fantascienza (TV Series, 1980) - Ep. "I sosia" .... Marta
Anna Kuliscioff (TV Mini-Series, 1981) .... Anna Kuliscioff
Teresa Raquin (TV Mini-Series, 1985) .... Teresa Raquin
Silvia è sola (TV Movie, 1988) .... Silvia
La signora Morlì, una e due (TV Movie, 1991)
Un posto freddo in fondo al cuore (TV Movie, 1992) .... Giulia Mussi
A rischio d'amore (TV Movie, 1994) .... Chiara
Come prima, meglio di prima (TV Movie, 1995) .... Fulvia Gelli

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 14:20

Starting with her legendary role in the giallo by Emilio Pompilio Miraglia: La notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba (1971).
She plays Gladys, a fascinating double player, tenacious... till the end.
Probably her best interpretation in the genre. Not dubbed in the Italian version.

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 14:51

A very charming, ambiguous and almost otherworldly character, Mary, in Sergio Martino's dreamlike giallo Tutti i colori del buio (1972).
In the Italian version she is not dubbed.

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 16:59

In the bizarre cheap horror Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973) as Nina Genovese
Here she plays a "bloody murderer" who loves money. Curiously she is still paired with Enzo Tarascio, after the success of La notte che Evelyn...

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 20:51

Malombra (TV Mini-Series, 1974) as Marquis Marina del Malombra, a tormented young woman whose forced solitude and ill-concealed resentment against her uncle cause anxieties and fears till to madness.
Filmed with direct sound, so we listen her real voice.

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 21:09

Un fiocco nero per Deborah (1974) as Deborah Lagrange
Another "tormented" interpretation, in the wake of Malombra, in a cheap mistery that echoes Rosemary's Baby a little.
Not dubbed in the italian version.

Post by **Emiliano** » 19/06/2020, 21:21

In the giallo Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso (1972) as Kathy Adams
Here she plays only a few minutes. Her role is that of a beautiful painter victim of the murderer. Dubbed.

Post by **Emiliano** » 20/06/2020, 19:17

In Miraglia's second giallo La dama rossa uccide sette volte (1972), again in a evil role, as Franziska Wildenbrück.
This character has several points in common with that of the previous Miraglia's giallo. Obviously the director liked Marina in this diabolical key. Not dubbed.

Post by **Emiliano** » 21/06/2020, 13:19

In the melancholic and sentimental western Il ritorno di Clint il solitario (1972) as Norma Murrayson.
Here she plays a mother who suffers from the return of her husband, wanted by law and from the abuse of a band of outlaws. Happy ending. Dubbed.